Haredi draft

When a group of young men was asked whether some yeshiva students wanted to enlist but refrained because their rabbis forbade it, several agreed, with one answering, “of course.”

The idea that those who do not serve should not be fed has a pedigree — Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Hitler — and a Jewish history that Israel, of all countries, should remember. The strategy never succeeds.

In a recent poll by the Israel Democracy Institute, a proposition that the next government should draft haredim equally received the most support among a series of propositions.

This is not a choice between Right and Left, or between religious and secular Israelis. This is a choice between those who carry this country on their backs and those who hitch a free ride.

Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara urged the High Court to consider restricting tax and transport benefits for draft evaders, citing government inaction and the IDF's urgent manpower needs.

The silent majority of the Israeli public must step up and choose tikkun – the repair of society to make it better – and ensure that our heroic soldiers will not have died in vain.

Police have deemed the demonstration illegal and are on the scene directing traffic to alternative routes, clearing the road, and restoring public order.

How can a sane government allow a situation in which people travel thousands of miles to serve Israel while tens of thousands are paid not to serve their country?

Of the 42, 40 expressed willingness to enlist and were found fit for military service, while 2 were found to have dodged the draft for an extended period and were sent directly to a military prison.

"This is unacceptable. We need to preserve the world of Torah study because it has preserved us," the prime minister told Kol Barama during a Tuesday morning radio interview.